The timeline for the Legacy of Fire Campaign

Setting up the shop – 17/06/4709
Went and met the centaurs and dealt with the Storm Elemental – 18/06/4709
Time setting up Kelmarane – 18/06/4709 to 20/07/4709
Searching the Temple of Nethys – 20/07/4709 to 22/07/4709
Caravan Attack – 31/08/4709
Journey into the mountains – 5 days 01/09/4709 to 06/09/4709
House of the Beast – DAY 1 – 07/09/4709
House of the Beast – DAY 2 – 08/09/4709
House of the Beast – DAY 3 – 09/09/4709
Return to Kelmarane – 5 days – 10/09/4709 to 15/09/4709
Remain in Kelmarane to restock and re-supply – 2 days – 15/09/4709 to 17/09/4709
Journey to Koor – 2 days – 17/09/4709 to 19/09/4709
Return to Kelmarane with body of Khalid – 2 days – 19/09/4709 to 21/09/4709

Nini sitting near a very big fire with Ding. Black outside our fire glow. There is nothin, no noise, no smell, and nothin to touch. However we do have the biggest pesh cake I have ever seen, bigger than the head of Vash, and that is large! Nini & Ding floating in space beside a really big fire. Yahoooooo! Fun this is, hair glowing brite……I fly around fire in a circle. Ding tarot card flipping.

Nini: What will happen when my friends eat the yummie pesh cake I cook for them?

Ding tries to read the cards, but has no idea why he is moving them into three piles and shiffling them. But he does it again anyhow and still not know why he does it this way again. I think it is because there is no ground. Finally, he lays them out, they seem to float about like leaves falling gently from a tree. Ding manages to follow the cards, becoming upside down, or is it right side up and I am actually downside up. (laughing, rolling, having fun :) )

Card one – Knight of Coins
Ding: A little one. The knight with the secret passage. He has magic mushrooms.
Nini: I see the mushrooms :)

Card two – The Moon
Ding: Hallucinations. Thing in the moon.
Nini: What’s in the moon?
Ding: Looks like animals. 2 dogs. A lobster. They see a mirage and water and lobsters. Nighttime on the pillars.
Nini: Night time on the pillars.

Card three – The World
Ding: Ooohhh the moon and world together. Flying high. See visions of Knight of Coins because his shadow is in the world. He will give the key to the world.

Nini: What do we have to do?
Ding: Take another reading to see.

Ding has got it sorted now and flips out another three cards with no effort at all.

Card one – The Emperor
Ding: We have to speak to the emperor. He’s the power of heat or fire. Maybe he’s the husband of the wife, dancing in the fire.
Nini: The one we saw dancing in the tower.
Ding: Yes

Card two – Three of coins
Ding: Sneaking away in the night
Nini: Who is sneaking away in the night?
Ding: awwww good question. In the moonlight to same place as the magic mushrooms. It looks like him, our friend the Knight.

Card three – Five of Swords
Ding: The swords dicing with danger, danger will robinson. That’s us following, looking up to somebody.
Nini: Who we lookin up to?
Ding: He’s filthy and red on his head.
Nini: Looks like Piranya
Ding: It is, Piranya.

The fire goes out. The blackness crushes around me.

Nini: Ding ding where are you?

There is no answer. There is nothing. Only me, I am here but I am not here!

Khalid's vision of a possible future without him by his friend's side.

You stand before a great expanse atop a tall mountain. The world is before you and what lies below is clearly Katapesh. You look below, closer to the mountain and find yourself drawn to a small town none other than Kelmarane.

“What do you see, Khalid?”, a voice beside you says.

“My family. My past. My future”, you reply.

“This is only part of that story. It goes far beyond that”, the voice whispers.

“But I have parted these lands. I may now return to those who I have lost. My mother. My father. I will see them once more in the afterlife”, you reply.

“You do not yet understand what you will leave behind young one. You have helped create this land once before, and are destined to rebuild it once more. You hold within you the power to change what has gone before, and what is to come”.

Your brow furrows, and you turn towards the voice. A young woman, dressed in flowing white robes, a golden Ankh around her neck, stands next to you. She looks familiar. She is as beautiful as is the sun as her soft blone hair and tanned skin radiate a warm glow.

“Do I know you?”, you ask.

“We speak every day Khalid. And you are one of my finest. You just do not realise that yet.”

“What?”

“For hundreds of years I have watched over Golarion. I have fought beside men during war, looked over the shoulder of new parents, and laid down those who would bring hardship to their fellow man. I was with you when you born not of this plane, and was with you when you fell.”

“Who are you?” you ask.

“A path has been laid before you Khalid; a path which has been clouded by those whom seek to gain from the misfortune of others.”

Your face feels the warmth of her breath, and the softness of her voice. And yet you fear that which radiates from her heart. It burns at your soul, and you feel compelled to run.

“Fear not young Khalid. What has transpired in the world before you is the result of hundreds of years of manipulations from powerful beings, who believe themselves to be gods, twisting and turning the ways of men to meet their own desires. And now, as the final stoke of the unmakers pen is brushed across the canvas of destiny, the thread of the world has begun to unravel, and the Legacy of Fire has entered its final stage.”

“I do not understand”, you question.

“You need not understand now Khalid, son of Marilesh, sister of Vardishal. But in time you will. For now however, you must return and finish what you have begun. Find the strength within. Redeem what has fallen. Find the world within, and reclaim Golarion from the maw of the beast”.

Your eyes begin to burn and the young woman becomes a brilliant flash of light. You turn away, and below you see a horde of beasts; Gnoll, Hyena, and men. All surrounded by creatures of the elements, all charging towards Kelmarane. At the head of the charge strides a powerful Effriti. As the hordes rush the town, the Genie turns his attention towards you, and begins laughing at your predicament.

“You always were the fool Varidshal. With you gone, and your manipulations removed, I will now rule this world and reclaim what is mine, and at last will sit on the throne of Gloarion as ruler with my bride.”

Two voices yells from the centre of the town, as hundreds of men are slaughtered around them. The voices are those of Nini and Ding.

“Khalid. Are you OK? Kallid”

With that you realise that you are in the familiar surroundings of the old tower, surrounded by your friends.

Ding: for some reason I rekon we will feel great and more powerful after our sleep… i reckon we sneak out when every one is awake and they are eating brekkie… then we can be sure they are all safe (& not asleep and vulnrable)?

Ninny: oohhhhh good idea

Ding: when we are on watch we can play ‘guess the animal’ with our shadow puppets

The demise of the Three Jaws Tribe

Dashki shouted that the gnolls came in peace and that we should hear what they had to say, but Vash and I had experiences that suggested that gnolls can never be trusted, and so we continued to attack.

Initially our plan seemd to be working, as the gnolls were slowed considerably by Vash’s magic and my arrows were dealing them damage. Unfortunately, my joy at this was short-lived, as Narg broke free of his restraints and charged me; his great axe whistling through the air with menace. I had just enough time to see two more of my arrows tear into his scab-covered flesh, before his rank scent assailed me, and his axe connected with my skull. Everything went grey and then black, as I fell unconscious.

I came too with the sounds of combat all around. Opening my eyes, I lay prone and bleeding at the feet of Narg and another gnoll, who were fighting desperately against my companions. I tried to rise, but dizziness took hold, and I decided that laying prone and waiting for an opportunity would be a better plan – after all it served no purpose in me jumping to my feet, only to be immediately clubbed unconscious again!

From what I could tell, the gnomes had decided that maybe Dashki and the gnolls weren’t friendly after all and were having some degree of success against our enemies. Dashki was staying out of combat and trying to mediate, until one of the gnolls let loose an arrow that hurt one of the gnomes. It was at this point that Dashki drew his scimitar and slashed viciously at the gnoll in question. Vash succumbed to his wounds, but with the death of Narg the battle swiftly turned in our favour, and the remaining two gnolls fled back in the direction of the fort. Khalid was able to use Vash’s wand to heal us, and attacked Dashki but failed to hurt him. Dashki, meanwhile, tried his best to explain himself, but his excuses fell on deaf ears as none of us felt that we could trust him any more. Realising that we were not willing to forgive him, he left, and we decided that taking the fort was more valuable a task than chasing him down. The gnomes were alone in our party in feeling that he had been mistreated and they jumped on a rock and called out to him as he left, asking him to “come back and visit us someday!”

Gathering our gear, and replenishing my supply of arrows from those carried by the gnolls, as well as searching the bodies for useful items (Vash took the Flind’s battle axe as it seemed surprisingly good quality), we headed to the fort to investigate.

On arrival, we were assaulted from the ramparts by the remaining gnolls, but between my arrows and a well-aimed fire bomb from Khalid, they were swiftly dispatched. More teeth for my necklace! In the courtyard was a well and fire pit, but Vash, Khalid and I decided we would press on, and upon entering the fort proper, we found a ground floor room and a staircase leading to the upper levels. The room was filled with the stench of death and decay, and strewn with foul bedding and other detritus. The walls were scrawled on with blood and Khalid informed us that the symbols, which were unintelligable to me, were assorted rites of Rovagug, the destroyer! These were definitely not written by the gnolls…

While Khalid translated the foul scripts, Vash and I discovered a secret door at the other end of the corridor, which led into a room with a staircase descending into darkness. As we were about to tell the rest of the party and investigate further, we heard Nini calling to us from outside. Concerned that she was in trouble, we rushed out into the courtyard, and she told us that she had been investigating the well when a voice had called out to her by name from below. Khalid peered over the edge, and turning to us said he could not see anything, just as there was a rush of wind from the well and a foul creature with leathery wings and pallid skin emerged from the opening, grabbing at him and biting into his neck. Khalid’s eyes became glazed and the creature easily dragged his paralyzed form back down the well.

Vash rushed back inside, sure that the staircase we had discovered led down to wherever the beast had taken our friend. Meanwhile Nini announced her intention to climb down the well after Khalid, and taking her rope, made to attach it to the well props. Overcome by her bravery and loyalty to her friends, before she could tie the rope off, I rushed forward, and trusting to the magic imbued in my ring, took her under my arm and leapt down the well.

We floated down and landed with a splash in the water below – the bottom of the well opened into a cavern and there was the creature, crouched over the still form of Khalid who was bleeding profusely from his wound. I attacked the beast while Nini tried to make her way around it, crawling between its legs while it was distracted! As the creature closed on me, Ding arrived on the back of Piranya, climbing down the wall of the well, and soon afterwards, Vash, Xuum and Sheba attacked from behind, having come down the interior stairs. Outnumbered and wounded, the creature spread its wings and fled upwards, disappearing from view in a few seconds.

Vash and I quickly ran to aid Khalid, while the gnomes, as ever, discussed how exciting life on the road has become, and started to plan their investigation of the underground complex that we had discovered.

A twist in the tale (or the deception of employers)

Heading back to the monastery, Khalid and I were met by a guard who informed us that Almah had been expecting us, and would meet us in the library. On arrival, she appeared to be considerably more distracted than usual, and was holding a small red lizard, the likes of which i had never seen before. The creature was particularly perceptive, seeming to pay great attention to the conversation we conducted.

After Khalid had been dismissed, and had left to go collect his belongings from the laboratory, Almah confided in me that she no longer trusted him, and had been having visions – dreams that told her that the gnomes would betray her cause, and that Khalid was in league with them. I did my best to dismiss her suspicions, but my efforts were in vain as her paranoia seemed endless. All through our discussions I was accutely aware of the lizard observing me intently, so I decided to test my theory by suggesting that Almah might consider putting the creature in a cage. At this point, its eyes went wide and it hissed loudly, digging its claws into her arm and making her drop it in shock. It scuttled under a pile of books and disappeared.

I went to get a cage from the camel herders and on my return, met Zastoran who said that he was heading to the chapel to see Almah. I was confused by this as I had only recently left Almah in the library. Despite this, I headed to the library to leave the cage, intending to follow Zastoran to the chapel to see Almah. But on entering the library, Almah was still there, searching for the lizard! Depositing the cage and promising I would return post-haste, I rushed after the old alchemist, sure that he was upto no good. My fears proved unfounded, as he simply seemed confused at Almah’s absence in the chapel. On questioning him, I discovered that Khalid had sent him to the chapel, telling him that Almah wanted to see him. I began to suspect that Khalid was upto no real good down in the laboratory, and so returned to the library to help capture the lizard so that I might go and investigate what troubles the young city-boy was initiating.

On my return once again to the library, it was apparent that neither Almah nor Garavel had had any success in finding the lizard. Since it seemed that the creature had made good its escape, and having decided that my erstwhile employer was no longer to be completely trusted if she could so easily discard my companions as she would an annoying sandfly, I respectfully took my leave from her and descended to the laboratory in search of Khalid.

At the bottom of the flight of stairs into the laboratory, I sensed a threatening presence and reacted just in time to dodge a blow from a fiugure hiding behind the door. Grabbing the individual and throwing them to the gorund, I was astonished to find my assailant was none other than Khalid!

“Quickly” he announced “we must leave…Now!!!”. His urgency was compelling and so hauling him to his feet, we rushed from the laboratory into the catacombs. Behind us, we heard the sound of footsteps on the staircase and Zastoran’s voice enquiring as to where Khalid was, just as there was a loud bang, and a plume of thick choking smoke poured from the laboratory. Khalid ignored Zastoran’s cries of alarm, and ran down the main passage of the catacomb. I followed in some confusion as to his motives but somehow trusting that he had the best interests of his companions at heart. In passing one of the side passages, I saw a glint of red eyes but had no time to stop and investigate.

Our emergence from the secret door in Dashki’s former accommodation was simple, but in passing the guradroom, we were spotted and the guards made chase. I told Khalid to run for the broken window that I knew allowed egress from the chapel, while I led the guards on a merry chase into the chapel itself, emerging soon after to announce that I had definitely seen “the ruffian” come in here. Believing my bluff, some started searching the chapel by torchlight, while I announced that I intended to report back to Almah, and used this ruse to make good my escape. As I leapt from an open window and headed into the darkness, I distinctly heard a familiar cackling chuckle, which reminded me of the imp who had dogged us from our encounter with it in the mirage that had made our trip so difficult initially.

I caught up with Khalid on the outskirts of the monastery grounds, and finally had a chance to ask him of his motives. In short, he no longer trusted Almah or her employers (the Pactmasters of Katapesh), and felt his loyaties lay with his companions. I was heartened to hear this, as I had begun to become worried by his apparent unpredictability. Helping him with his alchemical gear, we set off back to camp to reunite ourselves with the rest of the party.

Our arrival at camp found the gnomes awake, and at least in part back to their usual energetic and inquisitve selves. Having explained the situation to Vash and Dashki, both of whom were visibly shaken by the suggestion that Almah might not have our best interests at heart, we prepared to camp down for the night.

Later that night, during Dashki’s watch, I was awoken by a soft footfall, and opened my eyes to see Dashki leaving camp. Dashki had been in denial about our betrayal by Almah, and I suspected he might make efforts to return to the Monastery to express his concerns to her, to our detriment. Climbing to my feet softly, I crept after him, but rather than following the route back to our former location, he headed in the direction of the old ruined fort in the hills overlooking Katapesh. Torn between following him, and informing Vash of the situation, I decided discretion was the better part of valour, and returned to the camp to awake my friend. He agreed we should wait for Daski to return and find out what excuse he came up with to explain his absence.

An hour or two later, Dashki came back with a brace of conies, saying he had only recently left camp to hunt for breakfast. We made no show that we mistrusted his reasoning, but I clearly spotted signs that he had received wounds from a gnoll, and that they were the sort of wound that would be expected to be dealt to a junior gnoll by a senior gnoll. My suspicions peaked, I vowed to keep a close eye on our “gnoll expert” from here on.

On awakening, the gnomes were excitable and pressing for decisions as to what we should do. Ding performed yet another of his card readings, and deternined that we should be heading to the ruined fort. At this point, Dashki became most alarmed and did his best to convince us that it was a dangerous place to visit and not worth considering as an option, citing undead cratures and the pervasive air of death as the reason why we should discard our thoughts of travelling there. Unfortunately, he obviously did not realise that this would make the gnomes that much more intent on realising their plan! Wishing to force the issue of his possible betrayal, we made good to head to the fort as suggested by the gnomes. At this point, Dashki became visibly alarmed and insisted on scouting ahead. Vash and I decided now was the time to let him know that we knew why he was delaying, and that his ruse would no longer work. He defiantly argued his case but in the meanwhile, the gnomes, bored by the delay, began to argue woith each other over what equipment they might need, and as Vash and I tried to moderate the altercation, Dashki made good his escape – running off down the path and outpacing us. Vash and I decided that rather than hunt him down, we would continue with the gnomes & Khalid to the fort and see what emerged.

On our approach, we crested a rise which gave a good view of the fort, and the courtyard of same, which contained tents and a pen with four large hyaenas. In the middle of the courtyard was Dashki, pleading his case to some large gnolls who were cuffing him roughly and from the small amount of conversation that I could overhear, were berating him for “bringing them right to us!”, and “what will Narg think?!”. At that point, a large and mangey Flind who must have been Narg emerged from the largest and least damaged tent – his demeanour was visibly vicious and knocking Dashki to his knees, he growled “Take us to them, NOW!”

Quicker than we might have liked, the gnolls organised themselves into a scouting party – Narg, leading 6 large gnolls, 4 hyaenas and Dashki. We were certainly outnumbered!

Vash and I were intent on setting an ambush and quickly found a suitable place from which to spring our trap. As the gnolls came into view, we were about to let loose with a volley of missile weapons when the gnomes (who had never really believed that their “friend” Daski could be in league with gnolls!), leapt onto a large rock and shouted “Hello!!!”

Not wishing to miss the opportunity that had already been slightly ruined by Nini and Ding, I fired my first volley of arrows, and Vash conjured a huge area of rapidly growing and entwining plants that slowed the gnoll hunting party considerably.

What's in a Dust Digger

After spending all day in the Pesh fields observing the village of Kellmarane we retired to the monastery and bolstered our defenses with sheets of the cactus over any entrances. We all caught up during dinner and discussed plans. Khalid would be working on potions in his lab. Ding and Nini planned to visit the tower in the distance, causing all sorts of commotion with their planning. I’m not sure if this will eventuate but its best not to ask too many questions where the gnomes are concerned.

Taking advantage of the Gnomish distraction, KayXuum and myself left on our pre-organised scouting mission reminding Almah and the guards of our intentions. We headed straight to Kellmarane avoiding the road and headed to the cliff on the west side. Just as we were about to climb I spotted several gnolls heading down the road towards the entrance.

We waited for them to pass and headed into the ruined buildings across the road. We discovered a hide that had been occupied by one human for about 2 weeks. He seemed to be lying low and left a fortnight previously after quickly dousing the small fire with a blanket. Fortunately we caught sight of the returning gnolls in time to take cover and then crossed back over the road.

We then headed east below an embankment and crept up to some ruins. I stayed on watch covering Kay’s approach. Almost immediately he spotted 4 gnolls gathered together. When he got into earshot he overhead the guards talking about being on high alert due to the goings on in the monastery. We took this as our queue to leave the village and return to Almah and report our findings. With Gozrehs guidance we have discovered a fairly good ambush site and we now have to decide whether to wait for the alert to die down or put plans into action as soon as possible. I think it may be impossible to keep the monastery quiet while its afflicted by gnomes and my vote is for action straight away.

As we made our way back to camp we heard a scream almost directly ahead of us somewhere in the pesh fields. We raced forward and caught sight of Nini in the jaws of a Dust Digger, a creature i’d heard of but knew little about. Piran’ya was gripping a rope in his beak which led back to the struggling gnome while Ding was coming forward to help. From beyond them I could make out the figures of Khalid and some guards also arriving. Before I could react Nini disappeared into the creatures gullet and the rope grew slack as Piran’ya pulled on it before evaporating back to its own dimension. In a move I can scarcely believe even as I’m writing this down Ding produced from his backpack some kind of padded inflated pigs bladder, hugged it and dove directly into the diggers maw. I was sure that would be the last i’d seen of the pair and even Gozreh couldn’t preserve them but as I was hacking into the beast there was an almighty roar and thickened bile spewed forth from the creatures gullet along with both Nini and Ding who landed in heaps a short distance away. Khalid declared Nini dead as Dashki and I despatched the beast. Kay also confirmed Dings demise.

I breathed a sigh of relief and heard Khalid tell the guards to head back to Almah and inform her of the gnomes deaths. I was about to pack up and follow when to my surprise Khalid revived Nini and told the rest of us that he’d lied to the guards because Almah had ordered both gnomes to be executed due to their distractions. I stood amazed that Kay had been so quick to catch on and follow his lead, surely some sort of human-human telepathy I did not inherit. Although I can understand Almahs frustration with the pair it seems a little extreme to kill them when surely just ceasing their employment would get rid of them just as easily. I’m starting to wonder about her motives now and we are yet to discuss our dysfunctional groups next move.